Articles of sports apparel usually are adapted to provide certain functionalities to the user, e.g. to protect the user from cold and moisture or to protect the user from abrasion or injuries. Sports apparel may also contribute to increase the performance of the user.
For example, EP 1 110 464 A2 discloses a close-fitting garment, especially a swimsuit, with panels of elastic stretch fabric joined at seams and shaped to conform with muscle groups of the body, in particular in the abdominal region and at the gluteal region. The swimsuit may incorporate elastic stretch fabric and fit tightly to the body for muscular support and the disposition of muscles over the body may be taken into account.
Furthermore, EP 1 935 265 A2 describes garments, for example swimsuits or other sports garments, in which a plurality of panels are laminated on the outer surface of a base layer of stretchable elasticated fabric. This may offer improved performance e.g. for competitive swimmers through a reduction in surface drag, a reduction in form drag and/or improved stability in the water.
However, the known articles of sports apparel have several drawbacks and may not be optimized for high performance sports applications. Therefore, there is need for improved articles of sports apparel, and it is an object of the present invention to provide such improved articles of sports apparel.